Narrative:

On descent into lax on the seavu two arrival: just prior to reaching konzl (280 KTS/17;000 ft) the controller slowed us to 250 KTS; and then relieved us of the altitude restriction at konzl. In the same transmission; we were told to comply with all other altitude restrictions on the arrival and then 'cleared for the approach to 24R'. The controller then handed us off. The next controller gave us a descent to 7;000 ft while still on the arrival. The controller's next transmission was garbled. Once communication was reestablished; we where given left 20 degrees to join the localizer to [runway] 25L. As the call came late on the arrival; we did our best to join final; still at our assigned speed of 250 KTS and altitude of 7;000 ft. The result left us on the far south side of the inbound course for [runway] 25L as well as high and fast. Once finally cleared; we made an uneventful; stable approach and landing to [runway] 25L. On the ground the captain called approach control to gain some insight into why the runway was changed at such a precarious point on the arrival. The approach supervisor informed the captain that the first controller had cleared us for [runway] 25L; not [runway] 24R. We never deviated from the arrival or the controller's direction; we simply had to scramble to comply with delayed instructions. Even with our best efforts to communicate with ATC and repeated clarifications; there still was a miss read (?) call and a garbled transmission that resulted in a less than ideal approach.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 flight crew reports being cleared initially for the SEAVU2 to Runway 24R at LAX then being changed late to Runway 25L via a broken transmission requiring clarification. After landing a telephone call to ATC reveals that Runway 25L had always been the runway assignment and the crew did not hear correctly.

Narrative: On descent into LAX on the SEAVU TWO arrival: Just prior to reaching KONZL (280 KTS/17;000 FT) the Controller slowed us to 250 KTS; and then relieved us of the altitude restriction at KONZL. In the same transmission; we were told to comply with all other altitude restrictions on the arrival and then 'Cleared for the approach to 24R'. The Controller then handed us off. The next Controller gave us a descent to 7;000 FT while still on the arrival. The Controller's next transmission was garbled. Once communication was reestablished; we where given left 20 degrees to join the LOC to [Runway] 25L. As the call came late on the arrival; we did our best to join final; still at our assigned speed of 250 KTS and altitude of 7;000 FT. The result left us on the far south side of the inbound course for [Runway] 25L as well as high and fast. Once finally cleared; we made an uneventful; stable approach and landing to [Runway] 25L. On the ground the Captain called Approach Control to gain some insight into why the runway was changed at such a precarious point on the arrival. The approach supervisor informed the Captain that the first Controller had cleared us for [Runway] 25L; not [Runway] 24R. We never deviated from the arrival or the Controller's direction; we simply had to scramble to comply with delayed instructions. Even with our best efforts to communicate with ATC and repeated clarifications; there still was a miss read (?) call and a garbled transmission that resulted in a less than ideal approach.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.